Virtus Advisers LLC Acquires Shares of 6,345 Safety Insurance Group, Inc. $SAFT

Key Points

• Virtus Advisers LLC acquired 6,345 shares of Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT) valued at approximately $500,000 during the first quarter of the year.
• The company recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.92, with a scheduled payment on September 15th, reflecting a boost from the previous $0.90.
• In its latest earnings report, Safety Insurance Group posted an EPS of $1.45, which was below analysts' expectations of $1.60.

Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 6,345 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $500,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 57.3% during the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 13,766 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,086,000 after buying an additional 5,015 shares during the last quarter. CW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Safety Insurance Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $7,230,000. Martingale Asset Management L P increased its holdings in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 18,812 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,484,000 after buying an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 69,389 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $5,473,000 after buying an additional 1,914 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 19.0% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. now owns 12,500 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $986,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Safety Insurance Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th.

Insider Transactions at Safety Insurance Group

In other Safety Insurance Group news, Director Dennis J. Langwell bought 2,000 shares of Safety Insurance Group stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $71.49 per share, for a total transaction of $142,980.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 6,000 shares in the company, valued at $428,940. This represents a 50.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Safety Insurance Group Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:SAFT traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $73.69. 216,364 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 88,878. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.91 and a beta of 0.26. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $73.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.74. Safety Insurance Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.76 and a 1 year high of $90.00.

Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The insurance provider reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $345.83 million for the quarter. Safety Insurance Group had a return on equity of 8.34% and a net margin of 7.07%.

Safety Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.92 per share. This is a boost from Safety Insurance Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.0%. Safety Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.05%.

Safety Insurance Group Company Profile

Safety Insurance Group, Inc provides private passenger and commercial automobile, and homeowner insurance in the United States. The company's private passenger automobile policies offer coverage for bodily injury and property damage to others, no-fault personal injury coverage for the insured/insured's car occupants, and physical damage coverage for an insured's own vehicle for collision or other perils.